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Angela Mihai

Professor Angela Mihai

Teams and roles for Angela Mihai

Overview

I am a member of the Applied and Computational Mathematics Research Group and a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (FIMA). 

I enjoy formulating and solving a wide range of mathematical problems to answer important questions in science, engineering, and everyday life. It also gives me pleasure to discover new mathematical approaches and ask further questions along the way.

 

Publication

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2005

Articles

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Books

Conferences

Research

I have a broad research interest in applied and computational mathematics at the interface between physical and natural sciences. My expertise is in fundamental solid mechanics and the mathematical understanding of soft materials, including multiscale modelling, limit states analysis, optimisation, and uncertainty quantification.

I led externally funded research projects on cellular solids and multi-body systems with applications to biological tissues and soft matter, and made contributions to stochastic elasticity, which is a fast-developing field at the forefront of interdisciplinary research in continuum mechanics. 

My research monograph, “Stochastic Elasticity: A Nondeterministic Approach to the Nonlinear Field Theory”, Springer, 2022, is the first book to combine fundamental large strain elasticity and probability theories. Its aim is to make both theories accessible to scientists wishing to incorporate uncertainty quantification in phenomenological studies of soft materials. It is a modern book that covers classical and more advanced research topics.

An important area of my work is the mathematical modelling of liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs). These are advanced multifunctional materials that combine elasticity with orientational order. Specifically, mechanical strains give rise to changes in liquid crystalline order and changes in the orientational order generate mechanical stresses and strains. Because of their complex material responses in the presence of natural stimuli like heat, light, electric or magnetic fields, LCEs are suitable for a wide range of applications in science, manufacturing, and medical research. This work provides the foundation for further mathematical modelling of self-organisation in active biological matter.

Visit Google Scholar, MathSciNetORCID, and ResearchGate

Funded projects

Special events organisation

Video recordings

Cover image

ECMI blog posts

 

 

 

Teaching

I am a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy. Over the years, I have contributed to the professional development of many young people through teaching, supervision, collaboration and mentoring.

Courses taught

  • Introduction to Mathematical Modelling of Liquid Crystal Elastomers
    • PhD-level Mathematics (2023 - 2024)
  • Numerical Analysis
    • Year 2 Mathematics (2013 - Present)
  • Finite Elasticity
    • Year 3 Mathematics (2020 - 2022)
    • Year 4 MMath (2015 - 2020)
  • Classical Mechanics
    • Year 1 Mathematics (2012 - 2017)

I offer a range of projects to final year undergraduate students and to year 12 students on Nuffield Research Placements and Experiences Programme.

Biography

Career overview

I started my mathematical journey as an undergraduate student at the University of Bucharest, Romania. I later continued my studies with a Part III of the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge, UK, funded by a full Shell Centenary Scholarship awarded by Shell Group and Cambridge University Trust. In 2005, I earned my PhD for research in numerical analysis from the University of Durham, UK. I then expanded my expertise as a postdoctoral researcher at the Universities of Strathclyde, Cambridge, and Oxford, focusing on mathematics and mechanics of solids, where there was a need for mathematicians to specialise in this key interdisciplinary field. I joined Cardiff University as a Lecturer in 2011 and steadily progressed to my current academic role.

Honours and awards

Professional memberships

Committees and reviewing

Supervisions

Postdoctoral researchers

Current supervision

Past projects

Contact Details



Campuses Abacws, Room 5.14, Senghennydd Road, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4AG

Research themes

Specialisms

  • Applied mathematics
  • Materials modelling
  • Scientific computing
  • Soft matter